What do YOU use for Navigation?

[Griswald]

I use the MFT if I have to. Google maps and send-to-car when I can.

 

The voice interface with the built in nav system is so frustrating. 90% of the time I just end up telling it to go f@#$ itself and stop along side the road to use google maps.

[SteveB_TX]

Of course all MFT spinoff user are welcome to participate as well. :)

 

That would mean Steve is only using the MLT NAV ?

 

Spinoff? Really? Okay, you are on my list. ;) And yes, I only use the MLT for my limited need for NAV. :)

[acdii]

OK I have to admit, on my recent trip to FL, I did not need my Tom Tom. While I had it with me, it remained in the center console. MLT routed me just fine, though when at disney, the exits to where I needed to go and where I actually got off were so close together that they overlapped on the screen, I needed to take the second exit, the green line covered it up until I was actually on the first exit. My FIL was in an 11 Navigator with the non MLT Nav, and his showed the same thing. I think this might have been the only case where the Tom Tom may have proved to be better, but will never know.

[SteveB_TX]

My, my, welcome to the misfits club... :salute: :lol:

Your quote from the A6 Thread: "Gotta be extremely careful what you say around this bunch Tony. Especially those misfits acdii and GrySql."

-

Acdii has been talking about adding an 'invitation only' discussion section and you have just pegged the name for it - The Misfits. Perfect.

 

I expect to receive the soon-to-be-negotiated royalties from the use of said section. :)

[corncobs]

 

Spinoff? Really? Okay, you are on my list. ;) And yes, I only use the MLT for my limited need for NAV. :)

Well technically MFT and MLT are both spinoffs from the MS based Sync 2 system. Just the UI makes it MFT or MLT.

 

Hopefully I'm on a short list way at the bottom and will fall off soon. ;)

[GrySql]

 

I expect to receive the soon-to-be-negotiated royalties from the use of said section. :)

You bet! :hi5:

[hybridbear]

LOL GrySql!

 

 

Here, I use THIS

 

And yes I do know how to use it.

We got one of those from the library for our recent road trip. It was useful for the passenger on our road trip when driving through areas with no cell signal.

 

We don't have Nav in our car & we try to use the Sync Services directions. The major downside to it is that it picks stupid routes & requires working cell signal to send the route & to update it. I really like having the directions on the dash screen versus Google Maps on my phone. I especially like being able to see the total miles & time to the destination on the right dash screen. We supplemented the Sync Services directions with Google Maps on our cell phones while traveling. We mostly would use Google Maps just to validate that Sync Services wasn't taking us somewhere goofy and once that was confirmed we would turn off Google Maps. We also used Google Maps when driving through MO/KS area to make sure we didn't end up on any toll roads. Google Maps now has functionality to "avoid toll roads" which works great. I believe the MFT Nav can also do this.

 

For traffic, I've found Inrix to work really well. We used that on our road trip and I use it regularly around Minneapolis.

 

In the Focus Electric we use the built-in nav quite often. It is useful there since you can tell the system if you're going to charge the car at each waypoint and then it will show you how many total miles you're going to drive before charging and if you have a surplus or deficit of range for the trip. The biggest two things I miss about not having nav built-in in the Energi are: not being able to choose routing options such as "avoid tolls" & not being able to program multiple waypoints into the system for routing.

Edited January 26, 2015 by hybridbear

[acdii]

 

 

not being able to choose routing options such as "avoid tolls" & not being able to program multiple waypoints into the system for routing

Main reason I opted for the Nav. Convenience of these features. Once the Nav is setup correctly(which the BD was not, hence the ride on a Ferry on a dark and stormy night) then route planning, tied in with the fuel prices when you pay for travel link, comes in very handy. Unlike Gas Buddy, the built in Nav can search for fuel prices along the route, and that is very handy.

[lsherlockl]

Just to be different I use Nokia Here Maps (nice because you can pull down entire states so no cell connection no prob), though I will look over a route on google maps on PC before hand, but i like having a safety. If i had the nav i probably would use it and upgrade maps now and then grumbling about the prices every time

[Texasota]

For traffic, I've found Inrix to work really well. We used that on our road trip and I use it regularly around Minneapolis.

HB, is Inrix similar to Waze? Is it free?

[hybridbear]

HB, is Inrix similar to Waze? Is it free?

It is a free traffic app that uses crowd-sourcing like Waze. I have never used Waze so I'm not sure what all it does. Inrix allows users to report when there are incidents, construction, police activity, accidents, etc as well as notifications when the traffic color is incorrect so that whomever is monitoring the map can update it. You can also view all the local traffic cameras via the app.

 

Edit: here's a screenshot

Edited January 27, 2015 by hybridbear

[corncobs]

Yep pretty much the same thing.

 

Since Google bought them it's also used in Google maps when accidents are reported on your route.

[BLFarnsworth]

If/when I need to use a navigation system I use Apple Maps about 70% of the time, Waze about 10% of the time, and the in-car MFT about 20% of the time. I have an iPhone 6+ that I connect via BlueTooth for the audio/spoken turn-by-turn directions.

 

Despite the well-publicized glitches when Apple Maps was first launched, I find it accurate the vast majority of the time (maybe 99%?).

 

I use Waze sometimes when I have kids in the car; I set the voice to "Elvis" and it's pretty funny to hear "a-turn-left" in an Elvis voice when you're driving... There's no charge to use that voice. The main reason I don't use it more is because I don't want to give Google (which owns Waze) any more data about me than it already gets.

 

The built-in MFT navigation system is OK, but it's a pain to enter the address -- even if I use the voice commands.

[BLFarnsworth]

I think this is the best with a couple of comments:

Keeping the screen on all the time eats battery life REAL fast.

 

 

I just use a USB or power adapter (cigarette lighter style) with my phone whenever it's connected... :)

[md13ffhguy]

If/when I need to use a navigation system I use Apple Maps about 70% of the time, Waze about 10% of the time, and the in-car MFT about 20% of the time.

...

The main reason I don't use it more is because I don't want to give Google (which owns Waze) any more data about me than it already gets.

 

Apple thanks you, I'm sure. They really do care about you so much more than Google.

[ethermion]

Apple thanks you, I'm sure. They really do care about you so much more than Google.

At the risk of getting way off topic, that is not quite right. Apple makes their money by making products. Google makes money by spying on you, then selling what it found out about you. I do not like that, and refuse Google at every opportunity. Without spying on you, Apple would still be one of the most successful companies in the history of mankind. Without spying on you, Google would die within hours.

 

Back on topic, we use MFT and are happy with it. Not perfect, but certainly good enough, and would buy again. I started driving in the 70s. By that measure, MFT is Dick Tracy stuff. From reading some of these moans and groans, you would never know that people drove cars for 100 years without any nav, yet the world still turned.

[Texasota]

I use Waze sometimes when I have kids in the car; I set the voice to "Elvis" and it's pretty funny to hear "a-turn-left" in an Elvis voice when you're driving... There's no charge to use that voice. The main reason I don't use it more is because I don't want to give Google (which owns Waze) any more data about me than it already gets.

I knew I was going learn something fun, interesting or useful in this thread. I'm going to Elvis a try. Thanks, BLFarnsworth!

Edited February 1, 2015 by Texasota